Mozilla's Google Deal is NOT Dead.

By Sean Michael Kerner | December 05, 2011

From the 'Don't always believe what you read' files:

There has been some 'confusion' in recent days about the status of Mozilla's relationship with Google. Some have speculated (incorrectly) that the deal is over, leaving Mozilla without its chief source of revenue.

That's simply not the case. Just ask Mozilla. They just released a new statement on the issue which will clear up some of the misconceptions.

"Our search relationship with Google remains positive for both of us. We are in active negotiations and have nothing further to announce at this time. We have every confidence that search partnerships will continue to be a strong and growing generator of revenue for the foreseeable future. "

No, that's not a formal announcement of a straight deal renewal, but it is a very strong indication that one will be signed.

That's good enough for me.

The simple fact of the matter is that neither Google nor Mozilla can afford to have this deal lapse. For Mozilla, without Google, they wouldn't have the cash flow to fund the staff and operations. Sure they have assets and reserves, but not a whole lot of unique inbound cash without Google.

For Google, without the Mozilla partnership (which gives Mozilla a few pennies on every search conducted from Firefox), they'd raise the ire of the U.S. FTC and Congress. Google is already walking a thin line on anti-trust type issues and it is critical that they continue to support Firefox (a competitor in some respects) to provide an answer.

As well, Google benefits from Mozilla's development efforts which are all open source. Innovations that come from Mozilla can and do help Google.

It's a win win deal and no matter how the deal is restructured to account for new realities, none of us should have any doubts about it continuing for the immediate future.

Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals. Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist